Monroe County Board of County Commissioners met October 5.
Here is the minutes as provided by the board:
The meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Illinois was called to order at 11:00 a.m. Chairman Robert Elmore and Commissioner Vicki Koerber were present. Commissioner Delbert Wittenauer was absent.
The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
There being a quorum present, the meeting was called to order by Chairman Elmore.
Others present included County Clerk Dennis Knobloch, Kim Keckritz and Mike Schneider.
This meeting was scheduled to review bids that were submitted for hydropneumatic flushing of the Oak Hill fire suppression system. Mike Schneider said that the bid package was advertised as required, and 5 companies picked up the plans for bid. He said the bid opening took place earlier today at Oak Hill, and only one of those companies submitted a bid for the work to be completed. Mr. Schneider said the required flushing includes four separate areas at the Nursing Home, but the Evergreen Pointe area does not need this flushing maintenance. The only company to submit a bid was Boyer Fire Protection, a St. Louis company. Mr. Schneider said several of the potential bidders said it was impossible for them to meet the required schedule for completion of the work.
Mr. Schneider said the bid submitted by Boyer Fire Protection was in the amount of $378,500, and the bid includes a modest $500 per day penalty for not finishing the contract within the allocated time – December 28, the Friday before the deadline of December 31, and a $250 bonus per day for completing the contract early. Both of these incentives will help Oak Hill save money, because they are currently spending $500 per day to comply with the IDPH regulations until the fire suppression system is flushed and has passed inspection. Mr. Schneider said there would be additional penalties from IDPH if Oak Hill does not complete this work by the required deadline.
Mr. Schneider said they plan to use two flushing machines and two work crews, and they will be hooking directly to the closest fire hydrant at Oak Hill to provide a sufficient amount of water more quickly than if they were using a garden hose to flush the system. He said they will be using 80 gallons of water every time they flush a large pipe and 30 gallons of water every time they flush a small pipe, both of these using 100 pounds of air pressure. Mr. Schneider said the amount of water being used will not cause problems for any other water customers in that area of the City.
Chairman Elmore asked about a potential start date, and Mr. Schneider said if the Board comes to a decision at this meeting, Boyer Fire Protection can be contacted this afternoon to let them know the contract was awarded. Mr. Schneider said he was confident this company could do a good job on the necessary work.
Mr. Schneider said the contract as presented will comply with the necessary work and the deadline to complete that work as required by IDPH. He said this, however, does not solve all of the problems with the fire sprinkler system at Oak Hill. Mr. Schneider said the contract does include some unit prices for replacing sections of faulty pipe main if necessary. Those prices are as follow:
For replacing a 21-foot section of sprinkler main - $2,890
For replacing a 10.5 foot section of sprinkler main - $2,425
For replacing a 2-foot section of sprinkler main - $1,750
Mr. Schneider said these prices are for the IDPH-recommended thicker Schedule 40 pipe.
Mr. Schneider said the contract also includes a number for possible access panels that will have to be cut into the ceiling by Oak Hill staff if the contractor needs to get into the ceiling area to repair pipes. The contract includes an estimate of 573 possible ceiling access panels. He said this number was requested from the contractor, because some of the access areas can be reached from the attic, but there are other areas like in the tight corners of the attic and also on the first floor of the two-story assisted living area that can only be reached if you cut a hole in the ceiling below for access.
Mr. Schneider said Oak Hill will also be required to have someone from their staff accompany each of the work crews when they are in resident rooms at the Nursing Home, because you don’t want the residents to accuse the contractors of possible mistreatment by a construction worker, or that someone had valuables stolen, etc.
Mr. Schneider said another possibility is to replace the sprinkler head, and use the sprinkler head as a flushing point. He said the contractor will first test a sprinkler head from each of the four building areas, and if the sprinkler head fails, they will have to replace every sprinkler head in that building area. Mr. Schneider said that would mean spending $100 per new sprinkler head versus cutting an access panel into the ceiling that would cost about $150 to cut and replace. He said if the sprinkler heads require replacement, it would make more sense to replace those heads rather than paying to open the ceiling.
Kim Keckritz said the folks from Boyer Fire Protection said they felt the initial sprinkler system installation was not done properly. One of the problems is that there are areas of the system that are not installed with the proper pitch, and that allows moisture to settle in those areas causing corrosion.
Ms. Keckritz said another concern of the contractor is that when they start performing the pressurized flush of the system, weak spots in the pipes will give way, and there will be failures throughout the system. She said if that happens, IDPH will have to be contacted, and next steps in making the necessary repairs will have to be determined. Ms. Keckritz said the contractor has also said they will run their cameras through the system, and if they don’t see any problems, some parts of the system may not have to be flushed. Mr. Schneider said the other thing to consider is that the contractor will have to flush the large lines and connections three times to meet the regulator requirements.
There was discussion of wet system versus dry system, and Mr. Schneider explained that the dry system was used in the attic and ceiling areas, because those areas were not heated, and if a wet system was used there, the pipes would freeze. Mr. Schneider said the dry system requires a lot more maintenance. He said insulating the attic now would be a possibility, but that was done at the Morrison-Talbott Library in Waterloo, and the Library had to be closed for three days to allow the fumes to escape, and closing the facility would not be possible at the Nursing Home.
Mr. Schneider said the contractor will determine if there are low spots in the piping due to improper elevations, and those spots should all have drains installed so that any water that collects in the piping could be removed to prevent corrosion. He said there is also work underway right now to repair the nitrogen generator, because it is not able to reach the full system charge.
Mr. Schneider said he would oversee this project and stay in communication with Ms. Keckritz and the County Board. He will provide regular email reports to the Commissioners. There was also discussion about who would be signing the contract – Oak Hill or the County Board. It was decided that Chris Hitzemann will be asked how best to set up the contract. Ms. Keckritz said she would contact Mr. Hitzemann.
Motion was made by Commissioner Koerber with a second by Chairman Elmore to approve the contract with Boyer Fire Protection for hydropneumatic flushing of the Oak Hill fire suppression system in the amount of $378,500, with work to begin as soon as possible, and to be completed by December 28. Elmore and Koerber voting Aye, none Nay and Wittenauer Absent. Motion carried.
There being no further business to come before the Board, motion to adjourn was made by Commissioner Koerber with a second by Chairman Elmore. Elmore and Koerber voting Aye, none Nay and Wittenauer Absent. Motion carried.
http://monroecountyil.gov/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?juwpfisadmin=false&action=wpfd&task=file.download&wpfd_category_id=471&wpfd_file_id=100910&token=afd3dcab3672408130d65eb1bb84b99d&preview=1
Alerts Sign-up